Organisations today can hire talent from around the world, thanks to the rise of remote working, but this change also brings a new difficulty: maintaining a strong corporate culture across time zones and cultural differences. Although a distributed team allows for flexibility and diversity, employees can feel disconnected from the values and mission of the organisation if no conscious effort is made.

So how can organisations build a global workforce while maintaining— or even improving their culture? No matter where they are, the following criticial tactics will help you maintain employee engagement, alignment and connectedness.

Clarity Matters 

Clarifying the foundations for maintaining corporate culture in a distributed workforce is the beginning of everything. Every meeting should be constantly underpinned by a well-defined purpose, vision and set of core values. These values should guide attitudes, daily operations and decision making to ensure that employees everywhere know what the organisation stands for. However, values alone are insufficient; they must be embodied by leaders.

Invest in Onboarding and Inclusion

First impressions are important. It's important to provide a positive onboarding experience for new employees to create a positive culture and ensure they feel part of the team from the start. For this purpose, you can also partner with an Employer of Record ( EOR ) as they have the expertise to onboard employees quickly while maintaining a strong company culture.

In addition, organizations should provide flexible support and resources as well as the ability to adapt to different time zones and language barriers. To promote integration, it is important to create space for a wide range of ideas and support learning that goes beyond existing cultural boundaries.

Define Clear Communication Guidelines

Communication is the most important aspect of any distributed team, and if the appropriate tools and techniques are not utilized, there can be misunderstandings and disconnections amongst the teams. When working at a remote location, it is frequently necessary to engage in excessive communication in order to make up for the absence of face-to-face contacts. It is helpful to keep everyone informed and united by holding regular all-hands meetings, virtual town halls, and transparent updates from leadership at these sessions. Communication, on the other hand, should not be restricted to matters being relevant to work. 

Hire the Culturally Fit 

Another important component is the selection of the right personnel. It's critical to consider cultural fit throughout the hiring process because not everyone is comfortable in a remote or geographically dispersed environment. Look for candidates who possess qualities that are essential for remote teamwork: Self-motivation, adaptability and great communication skills.

Build Trust

Building trust in a geographically distributed team requires a conscious effort. Face-to-face meetings are usually the driving force behind developing trust in a conventional office environment; however, remote teams need to create opportunities to connect. By utilising regular video conferencing where cameras are encouraged, interaction can be made more human. In addition, virtual coffee mornings or activities that encourage teamwork can strengthen personal bonds.

Encourage Recognition & Engagement

When working in distributed teams, recognition and engagement are often neglected, even though they are essential for morale. Employees can feel undervalued if they don't receive personal recognition or informal validation. To celebrate successes, it's a good idea to implement systematic recognition programmes, such as praise in team meetings or digital incentive systems. Regularly engage with your employees in one-on-one meetings to understand their challenges and goals.

Use technology to reinforce culture

The use of technology in a distributed setting is not merely a means of completing tasks; rather, it serves as the foundation for maintaining cultural cohesion. Digital platforms should be used to enhance and improve the interactions that naturally contribute to the formation of culture.

Final Thoughts

Organisations do not have to sacrifice their culture when hiring and managing globally distributed teams. All it takes is the will, the use of the right tools and adaptability. Achieving this requires crystal clear values, purposeful hiring of employees, solid communication, building trust, recognising employees and strong leadership.

A globally distributed team can be even more cohesive and efficient than an in-house team, provided that the distributed team is well managed. This is because the ability to utilise diversity and flexibility as competitive advantage could make the distributed team much more effective.